brainpopfandomcom-20200223-history
Fall of the Roman Empire/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby A boy, Tim, is constructing a model of an ancient Roman building. A robot, Moby, steps on part of it as he walks in with a letter for Tim. TIM: Hey! Do you know how long it took me to build this? MOBY: Beep. TIM: No, my friend, Rome was not built in a day. Moby hands Tim the letter. Tim reads from the typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, What happened to the Roman Empire? From, Laina. Good question, Laina. The answer is pretty complex. During the first two centuries of the Common Era, the Roman Empire was the most powerful force on Earth. It ruled the entire area around the Mediterranean Sea, and most of Western Europe, too. A map shows the extent of the Roman Empire. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, they had a pretty good army. But that wasn't the whole story. Because this area was united under Roman rule, citizens could travel freely from one end of the empire to the other. An image shows boats on the coast of a Roman city. TIM: New ideas and technology spread quickly, trade flourished, and the Roman economy grew strong. Images show symbols for ideas and technology, trade, and the Roman economy. MOBY: Beep. TIM: All right, all right, I'm getting there. One of the major things that went wrong was plain old bad leadership. The government of Rome switched from a republic to an empire in the first century BCE, during the reign of Augustus Caesar. An image shows Augustus Caesar. TIM: Even though Augustus had tremendous power, he tried to preserve elements of the republic. He took advice from the Roman Senate, a governing council, and even held free elections. An image shows the Roman Senate. TIM: Not all future emperors did that, and the government power gradually slipped away from the people and into the hands of single, all-powerful rulers. Often, these rulers made terrible decisions that were hard to reverse. Most historians think that the Roman Empire began its decline in 180 C.E., when a guy named Commodus became emperor. Commodus ruled as an all-powerful autocrat, ignoring the recommendations of the Senate. An image shows Commodus. He wears the skin of a lion and carries a club. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, another major error was that no one ever came up with a reliable system for choosing Roman emperors. These guys had lots of rivals. As soon as one general became emperor, another general would assassinate or overthrow him. Images show a succession of emperors. TIM: Between 235 and two 284, the Roman Empire had more than two dozen different rulers, most of whom died violently. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Right you are. Most of the Roman army had been stationed on the borders of the empire. A map of the Roman Empire shows soldiers stationed at its borders. TIM: So when troops left their posts to fight one another, it left gaps and allowed invaders to sneak through and settle in Roman territory. Soldiers on the map move and create the gaps that fighting Roman soldiers left for invaders. The invaders are shown on horseback sneaking into the Roman territory. TIM: As time went on, these settlers grew in strength, while Roman forces got weaker. An image shows barbarians on horseback outnumbering Roman soldiers. TIM: Of course, that wasn't the only issue. Rome also faced a lot of financial problems. Roman emperors often bribed their soldiers with money to make sure they remained loyal. An animation shows a Roman emperor giving a large bag of money to a soldier. TIM: And when emperors didn't have enough to pay their troops, they would mint cheaper coins. This caused the value of Roman money to plummet. An animation shows a pile of Roman coins. TIM: It didn't help that many emperors stole from the treasury for their own personal gain and wasted huge sums of money on parties and festivals. An image shows an emperor at a feast with others. They have plenty to eat and drink. TIM: Food shortages and high unemployment added to the economic woes. And crime, riots, and other kinds of civil unrest increased. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Nope, it didn't end there. In 284, the emperor Diocletian realized that the empire could no longer be governed effectively. So he split it in two. He ruled the eastern half, and a general named Maximian ruled the western half. In 330, the emperor Constantine declared Constantinople the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. An animation shows Diocletian on the map of the Roman Empire. The map shows the split empire with Diocletian on the eastern side and Maximian on the western side. Then, the city of Constantinople appears on the eastern side of the map. TIM: This city became the center of the new Byzantine Empire, which remained an important force in the region for the next thousand years! An image shows a Byzantine mosaic. TIM: Meanwhile, the western half of the Roman Empire, which contained the actual city of Rome, continued its decline. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, military defeats led to the fall of Rome as well. Throughout its existence, Rome always had to deal with uprisings in different areas, as well as invasions from its neighbors. But as it declined, it could no longer face these threats effectively. By the 5th century, the Germanic tribes to the north and west were much stronger than the Roman army. The map of the Roman Empire shows Germanic tribes on horseback invading the empire with few Roman soldiers left to protect the empire. TIM: In 476, the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus, surrendered to a Germanic leader named Odoacer, and Roman rule officially came to an end. An animation shows Odoacer pushing Romulus Augustus over in his throne. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, that's a good point. Some people believe that Rome never fell. Its legacy is all around us: in our laws, in our approach to citizenship, and even in our architecture. Images show the Constitution, the Statue of Liberty, and the U.S. Capitol Building. Moby tries to fix the pieces he broke of Tim's model Roman building. TIM: Uh, Moby, I think that Rome has definitely fallen. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Social Studies Transcripts